Shows / New Books in Indian Religions
New Books in Indian Religions
This podcast is a channel on the New Books Network. The New Books Network is an academic audio library dedicated to public education. In each episode you will hear scholars discuss their recently published research with another expert in their field. Discover our 150+ channels and browse our 28,000+ episodes on our website: newbooksnetwork.com Subscribe to our free weekly Substack newsletter to get informative, engaging content straight to your inbox: https://newbooksnetwork.substack.com/…
Episodes
- New Books in Indian Religions
Diana Dimitrova, "Rethinking the Body in South Asian Traditions" (Routledge, 2020)
Diana Dimitrova's book Rethinking the Body in South Asian Traditions (Routledge, 2020) analyses cultural questions related to representations of the body in…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Eviatar Shulman, "Visions of the Buddha: Creative Dimensions of Early Buddhist Scripture" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Eviatar Shulman's Visions of the Buddha: Creative Dimensions of Early Buddhist Scripture (Oxford University Press, 2021) offers a ground-breaking approach to…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Jay L. Garfield, "Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration" (Oxford UP, 2021)
In Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration (Oxford University Press, 2022), Jay Garfield argues that Buddhist ethics is a distinctive kind of moral…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Love-Jihad and the Politics of Hindu Nationalist Statecraft
What role does the Islamophobic conspiracy theory of “love jihad” play in the politics of Hindu nationalist statecraft—the legal codification of Hindu…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Jarrod Whitaker, "Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India" (Oxford UP, 2011)
Today I talked to Jarrod Whitaker about his book Strong Arms and Drinking Strength: Masculinity, Violence, and the Body in Ancient India (Oxford UP, 2011). The…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Walter Dorn and Andrew Bartles-Smith, "Hinduism and International Humanitarian Law"
Raj Balkaran interviews Walter Dorn (Professor of Defence Studies, Royal Military College) and Andrew Bartles-Smith (Head of Global Affairs, International…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Gitte Bechsgaard and Gillian McCann, "Yoga and Alignment: From the Upanishads to B. K. S. Iyengar" (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021)
Gitte Bechsgaard and Gillian McCann's book Yoga and Alignment: From the Upanishads to B. K. S. Iyengar (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021) offers an…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, "The Kural: Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural" (Beacon Press, 2022)
The Kural (Beacon Press, 2022), is a new translation of the Tamil classical masterpiece Tiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural, by Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, who is an…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Renny Thomas, "Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment" (Routledge, 2021)
Science and Religion in India: Beyond Disenchantment (Routledge, 2021) provides an in-depth ethnographic study of science and religion in the context of South…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Julian Strube, "Global Tantra: Religion, Science, and Nationalism in Colonial Modernity" (Oxford UP, 2022)
Julian Strube's book Global Tantra (Oxford UP, 2022) explores the global exchanges that shaped a subject often associated with sexuality, social liberation…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Pankaj Jain, "Science and Socio-Religious Revolution in India" (Routledge, 2018)
Scholars have long noticed a discrepancy in how non-Western and Western peoples conceptualize the scientific and religious worlds. Non-Western traditions and…
- New Books in Indian Religions
A Conversation with Hanuman Dass: Founder and Chairman of Go Dharmic
Raj Balkaran interviews Hanuman Dass, Chairman and Founder of Go Dharmic, about his far-reaching humanitarian work and universal vision if Hindu values. We…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Rita D. Sherma, "Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics" (Lexington Books, 2021)
Rita D. Sherma's book Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy, and Liberative Ethics (Lexington Books, 2021) re-assesses the life and legacy of Swami Vivekananda…
- New Books in Indian Religions
A Conversation with Laurie Patton: Professor of Religions and President of Middlebury College
Raj Balkaran speaks with Laurie Patton, Professor of Religions and President at Middlebury College, about her scholarly journey, educational administration…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Alistair Shearer, "The Story of Yoga: From Ancient India to the Modern West" (Hurst, 2020)
Today we are joined by Alistair Shearer, a freelance scholar of South Asian religion and culture, and teacher of yoga and the psychology of yoga. He is also…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Jonathan B. Edelmann, "Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory" (Oxford UP, 2020)
In Hindu Theology and Biology: The Bhagavata Purana and Contemporary Theory (Oxford University Press, 2020), Professor Jonathan B. Edelmann develops a…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Neha Sahgal on the Pew Study “Religion in India: Tolerance and Segregation”
Neha Sahgal, Associate Director, Research, at the Pew Research Center speaks of Pew’s ground-breaking research on Indian public opinion on religion. The data…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Caterina Guenzi, "Words of Destiny: Practicing Astrology in North India" (SUNY Press, 2021)
Astrologers play an important role in Indian society, but there are very few studies on their social identity and professional practices. Based on extensive…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Ionut Moise and Ganesh U. Thite, "Vaiśeṣikasūtra: A Translation" (Routledge, 2021)
This book introduces readers to Indian philosophy by presenting the first integral English translation of Vaiśeṣikasūtra with the earliest extant commentary of…
- New Books in Indian Religions
E. H. Rick Jarow, "The Cloud of Longing: A New Translation and Eco-Aesthetic Study of Kalidasa's Meghaduta" (Oxford UP, 2021)
The Cloud of Longing: A New Translation and Eco-Aesthetic Study of Kalidasa's Meghaduta (Oxford UP, 2021) is a translation and full-length study of the great…
- New Books in Indian Religions
A Conversation with Vasudha Narayanan about Hindu Studies
Raj Balkaran has a candid conversation with seasoned scholar Dr. Vasudha Narayanan about her academic journey, the current state of Hindu Studies and her…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Gloria Maité Hernández, "Savoring God: Comparative Theopoetics" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Gloria Maité Hernández's Savoring God: Comparative Theopoetics (Oxford UP, 2021) compares two mystical works central to the Christian Discalced Carmelite and…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Pankaj Jain, "Dharma and Ecology of Hindu Communities: Sustenance and Sustainability" (Ashgate, 2011)
In Indic religious traditions, a number of rituals and myths exist in which the environment is revered. Despite this nature worship in India, its natural…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Ute Hüsken et al., "Nine Nights of Power: Durgā, Dolls, and Darbārs" (SUNY Press, 2021)
The autumnal Navarātri festival—also called Durgā Pūjā, Dassehra, or Dasain—is the most important Hindu festival in South Asia and wherever Hindus settle. A…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Anustup Basu, "Hindutva as Political Monotheism" (Duke UP, 2020)
In Hindutva as Political Monotheism (Duke University Press, 2020), Professor Anustup Basu provides a genealogical study of Hindutva. The interview is a…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Sabrina D. MisirHiralall, "Devotional Hindu Dance: A Return to the Sacred" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021)
Devotional Hindu Dance: A Return to the Sacred (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) sheds light on the purpose of Hindu dance as devotional. Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Jyotirmaya Sharma, "Elusive Nonviolence: The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi’s Religion of Ahimsa" (Westland, 2021)
In Elusive Nonviolence: The Making and Unmaking of Gandhi’s Religion of Ahimsa (Westland, 2021), Jyotirmaya Sharma argues that Gandhi acknowledged the absence…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Nishant Shahani, "Pink Revolutions: Globalization, Hindutva, and Queer Triangles in Contemporary India" (Northwestern UP, 2021)
Pink Revolutions: Globalization, Hindutva, and Queer Triangles in Contemporary India (Northwestern UP, 2021) describes how queer politics in India occupies an…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Atmadarshan Laura Santoro, "Song of Your Soul," a New Translation of the Bhagavad Gita
Raj Balkaran interviews Atmadarshan Laura Santoro co-owner of Dharma Kshetra Yoga and author of forthcoming book The Song of Your Soul (an original new…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Ruth Gamble, "The Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje: Master of Mahamudra" (Shambala, 2020)
A scholarly yet accessible biography of the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje, one of the great historical figures of Tibetan Buddhism. Known for his mastery of…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Sanskrit Tools on the Web: An Discussion with Martin Gluckman (Part 2)
This interview continues the conversation with Martin Gluckman, Researcher at University of Capetown and Director at Sanskrit Research Institute. We discuss…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Clara A. B. Joseph, "Christianity in India: The Anti-Colonial Turn" (Routledge, 2020)
By studying the history and sources of the Thomas Christians of India, a community of pre-colonial Christian heritage, this book revisits the assumption that…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Suchitra Samanta, "Kali in Bengali Lives: Narratives of Religious Experience" (Lexington Books, 2021)
In Kali in Bengali Lives: Narratives of Religious Experience (Lexington Books, 2021), Suchitra Samanta examines Bengalis' personal narratives of Kali devotion…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Sanskrit Tools on the Web: An Discussion with Martin Gluckman (Part 1)
This interview features amazing open-access digital Sanskrit projects spearheaded by Martin Gluckman, Researcher at University of Capetown and Director at…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Tony Nader, "One Unbounded Ocean of Consciousness: Simple Answers to the Big Questions of Life" (Penguin Random House, 2021)
Tony Nader, MD, PhD, a medical doctor trained at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD in neuroscience) and globally recognized…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Manu S. Pillai, "False Allies: India’s Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma" (Juggernauth, 2021)
India’s maharajahs have traditionally been cast as petty despots, consumed by lust and luxury. Bejewelled parasites, they cared more, we are told, for…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Clemens Cavallin et al., "The Future of Religious Studies in India" (Routledge, 2020)
Clemens Cavallin, Sudha Sitharaman and Åke Sander's The Future of Religious Studies in India (Routledge, 2020) looks at how religious studies is framed and…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Koral Dasgupta, "Kunti: The Sati Series II" (Pan Macmillan India, 2021)
Kunti, a rare matriarch in the Mahabharata and one of the revered Pancha Satis, holds an unforgettable position in the Indian literary imagination. Yet, little…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Katherine Young, "Turbulent Transformations: Non-Brahmin Śrīvaiṣṇavas on Religion, Caste and Politics in Tamil Nadu" (Orient Blackswan, 2021)
Katherine Young, Turbulent Transformations: Non-Brahmin Śrīvaiṣṇavas on Religion, Caste and Politics in Tamil Nadu (Orient Blackswan, 2021) studies the…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Antonia M. Ruppel, "An Introductory Sanskrit Reader: Improving Reading Fluency" (Brill, 2021)
An Introductory Sanskrit Reader: Improving Reading Fluency (Brill, 2021) aims to help students start reading original Sanskrit literature. When we study…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Eleanor Nesbitt, “Exploring the Sikh Tradition” (Open Agenda, 2021)
Exploring the Sikh Tradition is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and Eleanor Nesbitt who is Professor Emeritus of Education…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Mans Broo, "The Rādhā Tantra: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation" (Routledge, 2019)
The Rādhā Tantra is an anonymous 17th-century tantric text from Bengal. Mans Broo's The Rādhā Tantra: A Critical Edition and Annotated Translation (Routledge…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Pankaj Mirshra, “Turning the Mirror: A View From the East” (Open Agenda, 2021)
Turning the Mirror: A View From the East is based on an in-depth filmed conversation between Howard Burton and award-winning writer Pankaj Mishra. The…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Wendy Doniger, "Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History" (U Virginia Press, 2021)
Raj Balkaran speaks with Wendy Doniger about her new book Winged Stallions and Wicked Mares: Horses in Indian Myth and History (University of Virginia Press…
- New Books in Indian Religions
John Nemec, "The Ubiquitous Siva: Somananda's Sivadrsti and His Philosophical Interlocutors" (Oxford UP, 2021)
The Ubiquitous Siva: Somananda's Sivadrsti and His Philosophical Interlocutors (Oxford UP, 2021) is a sequel to a volume published in 2011 by OUP under the…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Gidi Ifergan, "The Psychology of the Yogas" (Equinox Publishing, 2021)
Gidi Ifergan's new book The Psychology of the Yogas (Equinox Publishing, 2021) explores the dissonance between the promises of the yogic quest and…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Kusumita P. Pedersen, "The Philosophy of Sri Chinmoy: Love and Transformation" (Lexington, 2021)
This podcast interviews Kusumita Pedersen on the first book-length study of the thought of Sri Chinmoy (1931-2007) and his teaching of a dynamic spirituality…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Stephen Phillips, "Jewel of Reflection on the Truth about Epistemology: A Complete and Annotated Translation of the Tattva-Cinta-mani" (Bloomsbury, 2020)
In the first complete English translation of a monumental 14th century Sanskrit philosophical text, the Jewel of Reflection on the Truth about Epistemology…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Paula Richman and Rustom Bharucha, "Performing the Ramayana Tradition: Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Paula Richman and Rustom Bharucha's book Performing the Ramayana Tradition: Enactments, Interpretations, and Arguments (Oxford UP, 2021) examines diverse…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Alastair Gornall, "Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270" (UCL Press, 2020)
Rewriting Buddhism: Pali Literature and Monastic Reform in Sri Lanka, 1157–1270 (UCL Press, 2020) is the first intellectual history of premodern Sri Lanka’s…
- New Books in Indian Religions
James D. Reich, "To Savor the Meaning: The Theology of Literary Emotions in Medieval Kashmir" (Oxford UP, 2021)
Medieval Kashmir in its golden age saw the development of some of the most sophisticated theories of language, literature, and emotion articulated in the…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Online Dharmaśāstra Library: A Conversation with Don Davis
Dr. Don Davis (Professor and Chair, Department of Asian Studies) speaks about the newly launched Resource Library for Dharmaśāstra Studies, a digitized open…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Nicole Karapanagiotis, "Branding Bhakti: Krishna Consciousness and the Makeover of a Movement" (Indiana UP, 2021)
How do religious groups reinvent themselves in order to attract new audiences? How do they rebrand their messages and recast their rituals in order to make…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Open Access Publishing: A Conversation with Dominik Haas
What is Open Access Publishing and why is it important? Listen in as Raj Balkaran interviews Dominik A. Haas on his Fair Open Access Publishing in South Asian…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Y. Bronner and L. J. McCrea, "First Words, Last Words: New Theories for Reading Old Texts in Sixteenth Century India" (Oxford UP, 2021)
First Words, Last Words: New Theories for Reading Old Texts in Sixteenth Century India (Oxford UP, 2021) charts an intense "pamphlet war" that took place in…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Kristin Hanssen, "Women, Religion and the Body in South Asia: Living With Bengali Bauls" (Routledge, 2020)
Noted for their haunting melodies and enigmatic lyrics, Bauls have been portrayed as spiritually enlightened troubadours traveling around the countryside in…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Religious Studies Today: A Conversation with Amir Hussain
Listen in as Raj Balkaran speaks with Amir Hussain (Chair, Theological Studies at Loyola Marymount University) about his scholarship on Muslims in America, his…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Emilia Bachrach, "In the Service of Krishna: Illustrating the Lives of Eighty-Four Vaishnavas from a 1702 Manuscript" (Mapin, 2020)
Today I talked to Dr. Emilia Bachrach about In the Service of Krishna: Illustrating the Lives of Eighty-Four Vaishnavas from a 1702 Manuscript in the Amit…
- New Books in Indian Religions
A Conversation with Jacob Kyle, Founder of Embodied Philosophy
Raj Balkaran speaks with Jacob Kyle about the genesis and vision of the online educational platform Embodied Philosophy. Over the course of their rich…
- New Books in Indian Religions
Jeffery D. Long, "Jainism: An Introduction" (I. B. Tauris, 2009)
Jainism evokes images of monks wearing face-masks to protect insects and mico-organisms from being inhaled. Or of Jains sweeping the ground in front of them to…